Monday April 11, 2011

John 11:1-3

"Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, then village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, 'Master, the one you love is sick.'"

It's hard to parse this from the translation, but isn't the language here charming? It's like mid-serious-gospel-writing John got to a part that was just "oh, this story. I love this story. Now...oh yes, you remember Mary..." And this is John, who began with "In the beginning was the Word." Poetic and portentous and universal. But for this story, he writes just as if he's talking to us over dinner or at least from a casual pulpit.

It's the story of the (second) man that Jesus rose from the dead, so it's very important, but it's a story about friendship. How Jesus cried because Lazarus was dead. How Jesus' friends reached out to Him as a man and a prophet. How Jesus had three friends in Bethany who were in a spot of trouble. How Jesus knew three people in Bethany who thought of Him as a friend and as the Messiah without seeing any difficulty in the two lying side by side.

Because what I can tell from their friendship is that it was a very down-to-earth friendship - as much as you can have with the Son of God. And that's gotta be something remarkable. Jesus' apostles and disciples followed Him around because they believed in Him as the Messiah, as a prophet, as someone closer to God than they can imagine being. As someone who would lead them. And I think, especially with the three who witnessed the Transfiguration, they must have been friends too. But it really is something that Lazarus, Martha and Mary were: friends as ordinary as pie who also believe fully that You are the Messiah sent from God. Who forgive and accept easily that God's will was not to save one of their number while fully acknowledging that their friend Jesus, the Son of God, could have chosen to.

What a line to walk. Or what a pair of truths to bring together.

I wonder if we do that. I wonder if we could be chums with Jesus without losing grasp of His divinity. It sounds preposterous. But then, so does God Almighty of infinite power taking and limiting Himself to human form. But we always knew how much God cares even about the minutiae. And why wouldn't He experience every bit of human life? That's how He knows what He's asking when He says that we must stand up even to our friends for His sake, that we must abandon our fathers and mothers.

Dear Lord, may I always be willing to accept You into my life in whatever form, never forget the love You have for me and the miracles You can do to transform my life. Help me to accept Your will when You do not without doubting Your ability or Your friendship. Be with me, Lord.